Monterey Police recovered a stolen vehicle and located a missing juvenile from Missouri during an early morning traffic stop on Industrial Drive.
Police Chief John Mackie said the department received a Flock alert regarding a stolen vehicle and a missing person near exit 301. Mackie said he located the black Jeep in a vacant parking lot across from a Subway and confirmed it was the vehicle sought by authorities.
“This child just got in the car and took off and stated he was going to go wherever the wind took him,” Mackie said. “And also when I made contact with the person, I didn’t realize at the time he was a juvenile because it didn’t say missing juvenile, it just said a missing person.”
Mackie said the juvenile took his grandmother’s vehicle and a debit card before driving six hours from Missouri. The driver had pulled into the parking lot to rest when police arrived.
“So he pulled over in this vacant parking lot, and there was a semi parked there as well,” Mackie said. “So he could not leave because if he had took off, he’d have went over an embankment into a drainage ditch.”
Mackie said the timing of the interception was ideal because it occurred during a shift change when both night and day shift officers were available. The juvenile was cooperative during the encounter and did not attempt to flee.
“It’s crucial to get there as soon as possible, but you’ve got tactics to use things around you too,” Mackie said. “And what better time than something like this to happen when enough of us is there to take care of it?”
Mackie said he coordinated with the Missouri agency investigating the case and spoke directly with the officer assigned to the investigation. The juvenile was initially taken to the juvenile detention center in Cookeville.
The juvenile has since been transported back to Missouri, and the vehicle has been returned to its owner.
